


The Importance Of Jones, Ianto Jones

by inenochian (orphan_account)



Category: Doctor Who, Torchwood
Genre: BAMF Ianto, Fluff, Gwen Bashing, Ianto's Coffee, Ianto's Duties, Immortal Ianto Jones, M/M, Married Couple, Time Lord Ianto Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 04:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10959900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/inenochian
Summary: This is what would happen to the hub if Ianto were to take a mini vacation.





	The Importance Of Jones, Ianto Jones

The Importance Of Jones, Ianto Jones.

 

Despite what the other two members of Torchwood III believe, Toshiko Sato is completely aware as to how important Ianto Jones is for the team. Jack had given Ianto the title of ‘general manager’ of the hub, and whilst it does make him sound more like a glorified janitor than anything else, Tosh is convinced that the title is just a decoy so that people let their guard down against him.

And really, it works like a charm.

Owen calls Ianto the ‘tea boy’ of the Cardiff team, whilst Gwen likes to believe that the only reason Ianto still has his job is because he warms their boss’ bed. Tosh knows better. She knows who cleans up the suspicious crime scenes after they’re done with a case, knows who is responsible for not only a vast but also a fully functioning Archive. She knows who is the only person in the hub who has all the access codes and passwords in the building, and it’s not Jack. It’s Ianto.

If according to Jack, Gwen Copper is the heart of Torchwood (not that she’s doing a bloody good job at that) then, Ianto Jones is the back bone of the whole establishment.

If that in and of itself didn’t make Ianto the most important member of the team, Ianto is also responsible for the semi-civil relationship between Torchwood and UNIT and Torchwood and the local police force. Jack, though he might have the right intentions, rarely has the right words, or attitude to form and maintain a proper relationship with the government forces. So instead, Ianto attends every meeting with Jack as his second-in-command, and writes all the important reports and letters, so as to not offend anybody. Torchwood maybe above the government, but it would be lost without the occasional favours they are bestowed with.

So, you see, with Ianto not only acting as the backbone, but also as the very soul of torchwood, Toshiko is shocked to see he rarely gets the respect he deserves. For all the hard work he puts in everyday, it’s downright insulting how he gets treated more like an errand boy than anything else. So, Toshiko forms a plan, and talks Ianto into going for a holiday. Nothing drastic, just for a week or two. When Ianto finds out why she wants him to take a break so badly, he almost cackles with barely suppressed glee. He agrees enthusiastically, and goes over to talk to Jack into giving him some time off, seeing as he hasn’t really taken a single day off ever since he started working for the institute.

Jack frowns when he hears Ianto wants to get away for a couple of weeks, because they have a good thing going, Ianto and him. Simple dates and cuddles and sex and Jack knows he will miss the other man like a lost limb. Not to mention, with Ianto gone, there will be a lot of increase in everybody’s workload. Still, Jack can’t really refuse him, seeing as Ianto hasn’t visited his family in a bit over a year. So, with a sigh, Jack reluctantly agrees to grant him the next two weeks of leave, and when Ianto gives him a small, but no doubt happy smile, and a sound kiss against his lips, Jack can’t bring himself to regret the decision too much.

To Owen Harper, the absence of Ianto Jones could at its worst mean him having to be responsible for his own coffee, and maybe a little more time spent on autopsies without an assistant of sorts. To Gwen, who prefers tea over Ianto’s coffee (Cause she’s not quite right in the head like that), Ianto’s holiday should really have no effect on her. On the contrary, Ianto’s absence could only mean that she would finally be able to persuade Jack into bedding her. So, the two members don’t really bat an eye when Jack informs them during their regular meeting in the board room the next day that Ianto’s on a mini-vacation.

So, imagine their surprise, when somehow, Owen can no longer find all his instruments in his medical kit because they’re tossed around all over the med bay from his last autopsy, and when for some reason, the pile of paperwork that Gwen does not do just keeps on increasing rather than decreasing the way it has been ever since she started working for torchwood.

Without Ianto to take care of things, the hub becomes a pigsty in a little over two days. Jack’s office is filled to the brim with unfiled reports and empty coffee mugs, Owen’s medical bay is splattered with blood, unsterilized instruments lying around coated in alien body fluids, and Gwen’s workstation is a complete and utter biohazard. Eventually tired of his house looking like a complete and utter wreak, Jack calls in Owen and Gwen on the Sunday and doesn’t let them go until they’ve cleaned their workstations.

It doesn’t seem to do much, because by Tuesday evening, the place is again just as dirty as it was before the clean-up.

And while in these four days, Owen and Gwen start missing Ianto, it’s not until the Rift Alert on Wednesday that they fully comprehend his value. The familiar spike suggests that it’s just some Weevil hunt, so none of them expect it to be too hectic. Tosh mans the computers from the hub as the other three pack the equipment and head out of the door.

It’s not until they’re standing in front of the tourist shop for a little more than ten minutes that Tosh’s voice crackles from the comms,

“Uh… guys, what are you waiting for?”

Owen’s about to give a snarky reply of ‘For the car, of course!’ until he realises that cars usually don’t tend to move on their own, and that with the remaining members of his team with him, and Ianto on his stupid vacation, there is no one to actually bring the car over to them. He wonders how it never really registered in his mind that it was Ianto who always drove them around to crime-scenes and such.

Apparently, the other two are having the same thoughts because they all look at each other with stupefied expressions on their faces before running towards the SUV before the Weevil kills another innocent victim. When they do reach the site, their numbers are odd, and there’s no way to divide the team to make sure everyone has back-up. It’s frustrating, but Jack only now seems to realize that he trusts Ianto so completely and wholly, that sometimes he tends to forget that Ianto is actually there as a cover and a back-up. Without him this time, however, Jack pair up Owen and Gwen together and hopes that he will survive on his own. He doesn’t. Jack forgets to look to his left side half the time he’s searching for the Weevil, so he’s completely blind-sided when one of them pounces on him, ripping a good chunk of his neck with its teeth before he even has a chance to open his mouth in a scream.

He wakes up a few minutes later, completely healed and completely terrified. His body convulses in residual pain as he jerks up, and the absence of strong warm arms wrapped around his shoulders and soft Welsh vowels near his ears almost makes him want to cry. It’s honestly terrifying how much he depends on his husband, and for the first time in what feels like an eternity he is grateful to fate that Ianto being a timelord will only ever leave him when he eventually realizes how he can do so much better than Jack.

Jack prides himself on his honesty. But he will deceive Ianto into thinking that they deserve each other and that Jack is worth even a second of his time for as long as he can. Gwen finds Jack hunched into himself sitting on the cold stone pavement. With the help of Owen, she had managed to deal the weevil, unfortunately not alive, but at least it wasn’t a threat anymore. As it is, she walks over to where Jack is sitting, her impractical heels clacking on the cement making Jack look up at her with a weary grimace,

“Are you alright, Jack?”

 _Oh yes,_ Jack thinks. _Just got my neck eaten by an alien and died for what feels like a millionth time. I’m perfectly peachy_. What he says however, is just a ‘yeah’ with a huff of breath. It seems enough for Gwen, she smiles and grabs his arms with her manicured hands and tries to pull, only for Jack to not budge an inch, she sighs,

“Really Jack, It’s cold and dark and damp. I kinda just really want to go home now, So, please any second now would be nice.”

Jack is exhausted. He always is after a revival. And normally, Ianto picks him up, either giving him a piggy-back ride if he has the energy, or at least supporting him with his arm wrapped around Jack’s waist. Now, Jack struggles to get up on his feet, and stumbles as he tries to walk. Gwen already too far ahead to notice, and secretly he’s glad. If anyone other than Ianto were to touch him right now, Jack feels like he would die another time.

Owen’s already waiting for them in the car and the rest of the drive to the hub is eerily silent. By the time, they do reach the tourist shop, all of them are tired and hungry and showing withdrawal symptoms from Ianto’s lack of magical coffee. Owen’s stomach growls when he opens the door to the tourist shop, but the sight of warm pizza boxes that usually greet them because Ianto always calls the pizza place in advance are now absent. Owen’s on the verge of tears when he realises he’s going to have to order and then wait for the pizza, also make his own coffee, which no doubt will be absolute shit compared to Ianto’s miracle in a cup.

The walk to the cog door is depressing, and the sight of the dirty and smelly hub even more so. Tosh looks up at them with an almost feral look in her eyes, only to feel disappointed when she notices their empty hands,

“Where’s the food?” She whines just slightly, only because an empty stomach makes her lose some of her well-practised composure. When nobody answers, she sighs and calls the nearest restaurant, an Indian place with sub-par taste and lacking hygiene. Jack can’t take it. Can’t handle the cold in his bones and the emptiness in his stomach and the disgusting view of his home. He quickly goes down to the archive, the only place left untouched and clean ever since Ianto left. He finds Ianto’s desk in the middle of a maze of shelves and slumps down on it with a groan. The Archives, Jack feels, are a part of Ianto himself. Whenever Ianto’s in the hub, but not with Jack, he’s in the archives. They smell like him. Or rather, he smells like them, it doesn’t matter though. The only thing important right now is that compared to the absolute and utter chaos that the world is without Ianto Jones at Jack’s side, the archives are like a sanctuary. They’re like a Tibetan monk’s temple. Tranquil and peaceful.

Jack takes a deep breath, and because he’s a greedy son of a bitch who needs more when he’s given just a hint of comfort, Jack calls Ianto on his cell-phone. Ianto picks up at half the ring, as if he were waiting for someone to call. It’s a ridiculous notion, but Jack embraces the possibility none the less.

“Jack.” Ianto’s voice is ever composed, but Jack pictures him in his mind with a hint of smirk spreading on those lips. Jack almost moans at the comfort he immediately feels and nestles further into the luxury leather chair.

“Ianto.” He purrs and hears his better half laugh in his ear. Jack feels like he might faint from the sheer relief he feels.

“How are you holding up, Cariad?” Jack considers the question. _I died today._ Jack wants to say. But he’s selfish. Not cruel. He knows what Jack’s death does to Ianto, no matter how temporary, and he refuses to be coddled by the other man if in return he’ll have to give him pain.

That doesn’t mean that Jack won’t moan and complain though.

“I think we’ll have to start an anonymous group. You know, Ianto’s Coffeeholics Anonymous. Owen’s registering actual scientifically accurate withdrawal symptoms.” Ianto laughs on the other line and Jack basks in the warmth and safety of it. “As for me,” He continues, “I won’t be letting to leave my side for another hundred years or so, Jones Ianto Jones.”

“And I’ll look forward to every second of it, Cariad.” Ianto purrs, and Jack salivates at the possibilities. “As it is, I have to go. Rhiannon might not be my sister by blood, but she’s just as nosey and annoying.”

Jack is reluctant to end the call, but the whole point of this holiday was for Ianto to spend time with his family. Jack sighs, the only form of comfort coming from the fact that Ianto will be back with him by next week. They part with hesitant good byes and confident ‘love you’ s until Ianto finally hangs up with another soft chuckle. Jack doesn’t want to go up again, but no matter how absolutely wonderful the archives are, they still don’t fill up his pathetically empty stomach. So, with a deep safe breath, he walks up again and lets the dark and depressed mood of the main hub wash over him like ice-water.

 

The rest of the week passes by slowly, and by the end of it, even Owen is willing to admit that Ianto is a valuable member of their team, and not just for the menial labour either. Apparently, Ianto’s absence does not make Owen’s autopsies more tedious, it makes them impossible. The man had been working like a full-fledged nurse with intricate knowledge of alien anatomy without Owen even realising it. Jack feels like absolute shit most of the days, and his raging mood swings are taking a toll on everyone. None of his members know the secret to keeping him calm and sated, so they have to endure his short temper and reckless decisions instead. Jack misses how Ianto can just cuddle away all his frustrations even on the really bad days.

Tosh is tired of ‘helping’ Gwen with her pile high paperwork. She knew that Ianto worked a lot, but she had no idea that he did so much of other’s work as well. She hasn’t been in the field for over a week because nobody can work out the comms like she can except Ianto and the frustration of spending every day at work with no adrenaline rush is taking its toll on her too.

All in all, everybody is fucking ecstatic when Ianto shows up to work on a Monday instead of a Wednesday with a freshly made thermos of steaming hot Ianto special coffee and home baked croissants. Before anybody can even react to the beautiful Welshman’s sudden arrival who looks like a complete angel compared to their stinking selves, Owen aggressively strides over to him, cups his face, and plants a big one right on his lips,

“You’re a fucking god, is what you are!” He announces and Jack finally gets his bearings from where he had lost them whilst watching the frankly ridiculous scene,

“Hey! Hands off the hubby, Harper!” He snatches Ianto away from the doctor’s evil coffee-deprived hands and tucks Ianto into his own arms, pressing his own kiss against his favourite pair of lips, only this one much deeper, and longer and just much more in general. None of the team members can look away. In a way, all of them had also been deprived of the ‘Jack and Ianto’ show, no matter how sickeningly and disgustingly sweet the find it on most days.

Ianto laughs, accepts the hugs from everyone and a scowl from Gwen in stride before distributing the coffee and cakes, which are met with disturbing sounds of pleasure for a beverage, but oh well. By the time everything in clean and calm, just like it ought to be with Ianto in their presence, it’s 8 in the evening, and everybody is leaving to go home. Ianto’s in the archives dealing with all the incomplete and often completely forgotten cover-ups of the alien attacks when he feels warm arms circling his waist and hot breaths sighing against the hair at the back of his ear.

“Missed you so fucking much, Yan. I’m not gonna let you go anywhere ever again.” Ianto grins, turns around to press himself more firmly against Jack’s front and looping his arms around the older man’s neck,

“I do have at least another hundred years stuck to your side if I’m not wrong, Cariad.”

“We have the complete eternity, Darling.”

Ianto’s response to that, whatever it might have been to such a bold and sure proclamation was cut-off with an equally bold and sure kiss to the lips.


End file.
